grades ready

Estimados,

favor de revisar sus notas.
Cerraré por la tarde por si hay algún error, aunque no creo.

Saludos,

JCA

Instructions for the oral presentations: details

Hi,

here you have the material we discussed in class. I am sharing some links that may help you in the preparation of your talks. Feel free to ask any questions about this topic.

• Tips for successful PowerPoint presentations. word document
• Coherence (introduction, May 2nd class) PowerPoint document
• Kinds of Essays-Oral presentations instructions PowerPoint document
• Kinds of Essays (seen in class, on April 16th) PowerPoint document
• Practice with transition words and phrases PowerPoint document

Useful links

• Purdue University OWL (I think the site map is better than the homepage) They have a youtube channel, too: OWLPurdue
• Conjunctive adverbs (for transitions)
• Chompchomp (a nice website for references)
• Tips-o-matic (interesting)
• ESLbee (try it. It has a very simple style)
• Another writing lab (punctuation explanations are good)
• ISU Writing Center (Idaho State University)
• Spark notes

Good luck with your presentations. Have a fruitful work!

Oral presentations: kinds of essays.

Hi,

As mention in class, you'll start working on the preparation of your oral presentations about diferent kinds of essays.

1- Choose a team (4 maximum)
2- Choose a kind of essay to talk about.
3- Start researching about the particular kind of essay chosen.
4- Ask teacher for feedback
5- Present in front of the class for 10 minutes each group.

Due date: Wednesday 11th of May, 2011.

kinds of essays.ppt (right click)

Some links to share: http://www.gallaudet.edu/CLAST/Tutorial_and_Instructional_Programs/English_Works/Writing.html

Look at this video explanation. It's really good!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VckHHjp2_T8&feature=fvwrel

How to write great essays?

Here you have a very useful link where you can download a book on writing

http://scapatl.org/page39/assets/How%20To%20Write%20Great%20Essays.pdf

The ppt (good writing.ppt) seen in class

Feedback

Here you have some words commented on the essays you have written. This is in case you haven't had your essay back, for any reasons.

Kinds of mistakes observed:

Paragraphs structure: Some essays have missing topic sentences. Others, developed paragraphs of just a couple of lines.

Punctuation: It seems worth to be reminded that a comma doesn't mark the end of a sentence, unless followed by a connector. That's the job of a stop (period) or a semicolon, or even a colon.

Tense agreement: Just read your essay twice and thrice; I bet you'll always find grammar mistakes. Try it.

Number agreement: Be careful with plurals in adjectives! For instance"difficults situations," "excellents results." Expressions such as anybody, everybody and everything have a plural connotation, but must ALWAYS be considered singular in your sentences. The word "people" is always plural.


Unnecesary expressions: "I am going to write about...", "In my humble opinion", "maybe", "I have to say it.



some more soon...

Exam 1 Contents

Hi,

I decided to post this message in case you have doubts to get ready for the exam.

The exam is basically essay writing. I'll give you a topic and you'll have to develop an essay.
I'll also include some concepts seen in class like "topic sentence" and "thesis statement."
I am not evaluating any vocabulary from readings or handouts.
Please, take a look at the comments on feedback I am leaving very soon here.

Good luck this Wednesday,

JCA

Assignment 2, weekly reading and first exam

Hello everyone,

we're starting a new week with fewer classes due to the freshers' week, and that leaves us with some time to recap:

1- The essay was due last Wednesday.
2- The weekly reading will finally be assessed next Tuesday 12th because there no evaluation this week.
3- Make sure you have the 2nd handout (The Best Time to Be Alive) for this Tuesday. Last class we had group discussion about the topics and you're expected to have chosen your topic for next class.
4- On Tuesday 5th, we will carry out the first two stages in class, namely, prewriting and draft 1 with peer correction.

Enjoy your free time wisely.

JCA

Essay 1: memory helper

Don't forget about your essay, guys.

•Topics:

•If you could change one important thing about your country, what would you change? Use reasons and specific examples to support your answer.

•Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The invention of the Internet has had negative effects on your civilization. Use specific reasons and examples to support your opinion.

•"When people succeed in life, it is because of hard work. Being lucky has nothing to do with success in life." Do you agree or disagree with the quotation above? Use specific reasons and examples to explain your position.

–Don’t forget the writing process.

–You are expected to write two drafts.

–Respect due date. No late essays will be received after Wednesday 30th of March.

–Maximum 550 words (if 5 paragraphs), if 3 paragraphs, it can be 300 words (mínumum). I recommend the 5- paragraph one
- Tuesday 29th will be the last chance to show your 2nd draft.

Good luck everybody.

JCA

Handouts

These are the handouts we are currently using and will use in the short term.
To download them click on them with the right button of your mouse and choose "save link as..." (guardar enlace como...)


Handout 1: Essay structure. Version 1 (to print) version 2, with instructions

Handout 2: Opinion essay

Handout 3: Cause and effect essay

Weekly reading 1: The making of a Nation.

Welcome message

Hello,

I am very glad to see you again, now in this subject that completes the series of writing courses in the programmes (translation and teaching).

I'd like to say a few things about the classes this term:

About attendance, punctuality and commitment:
1- There is a minimum of 80% of attendance or obtaning a 5.5 as final average to pass the subject.
2- No late coming to classes, for you and I.

About assignments:
3- Do not leave ANY assigments with the secretaries. Assignments should be handed in when we have classes. If there is an "exception", I preffer that you slip it under my door. Don't send it by e-mail unless told to do so.
4- No late assigments will be received. If you encountered problems during your task, let me know BEFORE the due date.
5- All assigments and exams will be given back to their owners, not to classmates.
6- Assigments that do not have owner's name will not be graded.
7- Writing is a PROCESS. Make sure you follow the stages of the assignments; otherwise, I cannot guarantee success of the task or maximum grade.

I think it's enough of rules. The rest is just common sense.

Good luck to everybody this term.

Juan Chamorro A.

NOTE: This is the first post. The ones that are below this one belong to LyC2. I decided to keep them, just in case.